John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe, the “Morning star of the Reformation,” was born in England in the 1320s. He was a vigorous, outspoken doctrinal reformer, hated and hounded by the hierarchy, but loved and followed by many. His most famous disciple, by means of his writings, was John Huss of Bohemia. His most well-known accomplishment was the translation of the Bible into English.
No one seems to know the exact year or place of his birth, or even how to spell his name. According to Schaff, there are at least 20 different spellings of his name, such as Wiclif, Wyclif, Wicleff, and the one we have chosen, Wycliffe. There is even a question as to whether there may have been two John Wycliffes, because of the multitude of references to his name at various colleges in public documents.
Be that as it may, our John Wycliffe was educated at Oxford. He was profoundly influenced by the writings of Augustine, and through him, by Plato. His favorite mentor was Bradwardine: a famous mathematician, astronomer, and theologian, later to become Archbishop of Canterbury. He was also well acquainted with the words of John Chrysostom, Jerome, Aquinas, Anselm, and other great thinkers, quoting frequently from them. As he grew older, however, and wiser, he increasingly turned to the Scriptures as his final authority. When the “Black Plague” swept through London in 1348, killing 100,000 people, Wycliffe turned to the Scriptures for comfort. Through his Bible study he was led to an understanding of the gospel, and a fresh confidence in God. After graduation he remained at Oxford as an administrator and lecturer. His classes were always full of eager students, hungry for the Word of truth and maybe just as hungry for his word of freedom: “The Bible is our final authority—not the Pope!”
Wycliffe was called in as an adviser to Parliament, and was influential in several key decisions regarding the power of the Pope over England. In 1365, Pope Urban V demanded payment of the papal tribute. This tribute had been promised by King John, but had not been paid for over 30 years. Parliament voted to defy the Pope, willing to declare war if necessary. They had clearly been influenced by Wycliffes lectures. He urged that church officials not be given government appointments, as these left them no time or inclination for studying and preaching the gospel. Wycliffe also attacked, with voice and pen, the hundreds of “begging friars” that were multiplying all over the country. They called themselves “Soldiers of the Pope” and went around from town to town collecting money for Rome. They even kidnapped children to raise them in monasteries. Wycliffe said, “They live as lords, and send out idiots to preach fables and lies to please and rob the people.”
Not surprisingly, the opposition of the pope began to increase. Time after time he was ordered to stop preaching and teaching his “pernicious doctrines,” and he was excommunicated. When he put his 12 theses on the bulletin board at Oxford, in the spring of 1381, a council was summoned almost immediately. The conclusion was quick in coming: Wycliffe’s opinions were heretical. He was threatened with prison if he continued teaching, so he appealed to the king and parliament. Politics being what they are, the king was persuaded to move against Wycliffe’s position. Wycliffe was set back a little by this defeat, but the cause of Christ in England was advanced by giant steps.
He retired from the university and went to work translating the Bible into English. Very few men of England could read Jerome’s Vulgate, but before long the Bible was available in the language of the people. Noting the negative success of the “Black Friars”, Wycliffe organized his own band of preachers. These became known as “Lollards”. They took the hand-copied versions of the new English Bible to the people, who were thrilled to hear God’s words in terms they could understand and believe.
The church tried desperately to stamp out Wycliffe’s books and tracts, and especially the Bibles. But he was not to be stopped. The work he began continued past his death in 1384, past his post-humous humiliation 40 years later (when his bones were dug up, burned, and cast into the river), past stormy centuries of persecution, and still continues today. Huss followed Wycliffe’s example, translating the Bible into Czech. Many others have since, and today, through such groups as Wycliffe Bible Translators, thousands of versions in as many languages and cultures, are heirs to the courage of this one man.